Meet the Chopped Star Power Competitors

Get to know the 16 celebrity competitors who've signed up for the latest five-part tournament. At stake is $50,000 for charity and the title of Chopped champion.

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Scott Gries

Photo By: Scott Gries

Photo By: Scott Gries

Photo By: Scott Gries

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Photo By: Anders Krusberg

Part 1: Hilah Johnson

Hilah did sketch comedy, was a dental assistant and worked in indie films before launching her YouTube channel. She's been cooking and baking since she was a kid. Her show, Hilah Cooking, which has over 300,000 subscribers, focuses on easy and affordable meals for beginner to intermediate cooks. She makes everything from scratch, but her cooking is never intimidating or unattainable.

Part 1: Josh Elkin

As a kid, Josh loved to cook, but his mom wouldn't let him, so he would end up cooking at friends' homes. With a few of this friends, he started EpicMealTime on YouTube. After separating from the gang, Josh went on to launch two new web cooking series, Kitchenuity and On the Board. Josh is all about creating something out of something else, and he loves to cook to keep his mind sharp.

Part 1: Justine Ezarik, aka iJustine

Growing up, Justine was the only girl in her computer programming class, but by the sixth grade she had already made her first website. In 2006 she became the internet's first and most-popular lifecaster. She eventually began doing cooking videos, mostly failed attempts at first, but now she has nearly 3.5 million subscribers across multiple YouTube channels. As a joke she often puts everything in the blender.

Part 1: Lazarus Lynch

Lazarus spent his early childhood years in the kitchen cooking alongside his late father, Johnny "Ray" Lynch, a Southern chef who ran Baby Sisters Soul Food restaurant in Queens. Lazarus attended culinary arts high school, after which he began blogging under the name Son of a Southern Chef. His YouTube channel has over 8,000 subscribers. Lazarus puts his own spin on the foods his dad cooked.

Part 2: Dorothy Hamill

Dorothy became known as America's sweetheart after earning Olympic gold in 1976, which catapulted her into a career as a leading female sports star. At an early age, Dorothy enjoyed getting in the kitchen, as her mom wasn't such a good cook. But after Dorothy's figure skating career took off, she didn't do much cooking until her daughter was born. Dorothy enjoys making classic dishes and desserts.

Part 2: LaMarr Woodley

A former NFL player, LaMarr has played for the Oakland Raiders, Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers, with which he won Super Bowl XLIII in 2009. LaMarr never cared about what he ate or where his food came from — until he got into sports. Now that LaMarr is a free agent, he has more time on his hands to experiment in the kitchen, and he considers himself the breakfast master in the family.

Part 2: Mariel Zagunis

Mariel is the most-decorated fencer in the history of U.S. fencing, and she is hoping to compete in her fifth Olympics in 2020. Because food is fuel, Mariel believes it's important to have control over what she consumes. Although she wasn't initially a very good cook, she trained herself and has become adept at cooking with local and seasonal ingredients from her home in the Pacific Northwest.

Part 2: Paige VanZant

Mixed martial artist Paige is one of the youngest and most-popular fighters in the UFC. She's always loved to cook from a young age, and she had dreams of becoming a restaurateur, but as Paige grew up, she gravitated more toward sports. Paige now cooks all her own meals to keep herself in top fighting shape — but she also believes in indulging now and then.

Part 3: Illeana Douglas

As an actress, director, screenwriter and producer, Illeana has had a notable career as a character actor specializing in comedy. She currently hosts specials on TCM. As a child Illeana loved cooking Italian-American foods with her grandma. She still cooks for herself every week and has been a vegetarian for the past 20 years, but that doesn't mean she can't cook meat with the best of them.

Part 3: Jonathan Sadowski

Jonathan is best known for his roles on She's the Man, Live Free or Die Hard, $#*! My Dad Says, and Young & Hungry. Growing up with a big family in Chicago, Jonathan was always involved in preparing dinner. Once he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, Jonathan discovered fine dining and even worked as a bartender and waiter for a time. He considers himself a serious foodie and can grill anything.

Part 3: Julie White

As an actress of film, stage and television, Julie is best known for starring on Grace Under Fire and in the Transformers series. Growing up on a farm in Texas, Julie was exposed to fishing and hunting by her dad. She's always been obsessed with food, and she loves to cook farm-to-table and low-and-slow. She's judged on Iron Chef America before, but this will be her first time cooking competitively.

Part 3: Ron Funches

Ron currently stars in NBC's Powerless, and he can often be found on the improv stage, doing comedy shows across the country. Growing up in Chicago, Ron loved his mom's cooking, but he didn't get into cooking himself until his health depended on it. Ron lost more than 100 pounds, and he is now learning to cook healthier meals for himself and his teen son.

Part 4: Alan Thicke

Alan was known as one of TV's most-beloved sitcom dads on Growing Pains. He later became a host for several game shows, including Pictionary and Three's a Crowd. Growing up in Canada, Alan was surrounded by good cooks, so he typically took a back seat in the kitchen. He did cook now and then, and he was very serious about his sauces. He always made time for a sit-down dinner with his family.

Part 4: Alysia Reiner

As an actress and producer, Alysia is best known for her roles in the film Sideways, on the TV drama How to Get Away with Murder and on the Netflix show Orange Is the New Black. Because no one cooked in her family, Alysia learned to fend for herself, honing a super-healthy style that focuses on rustic, family-style meals. One of her favorite things to do is look in the fridge and come up with a meal out of nothing.

Part 4: Jodi Lyn O'Keefe

Jodi began acting and modeling at age 17. She's known for her roles in the films She's All That, Whatever It Takes and The Crow; she was also on Prison Break and The Vampire Diaries on TV. When she was younger, she couldn't even make toast, but then she moved to San Francisco and became obsessed with the food scene. Now living in LA, Jodi hosts monthly dinner parties. She is a huge fan of Chopped.

Part 4: Rick Fox

As a film and TV actor, Rick is best known for his roles in the movie He Got Game and on the HBO series Oz. Italian food has always been special for Rick because it's the food his mom cooked. He sees cooking as an expression of love, and he enjoys treating his family to his food. Rick recently realized his dream of opening a restaurant when he launched the fast-casual concept The Chicken or the Egg in LA.